Forever Home
by HugeChristianFan
Summary: My submission in the Days of Fifty Challenge by the Sisterhood Group. Thanks everyone for the fantastic feedback !


FOREVER HOME, DAYS OF FIFTY SISTERHOOD CHALLENGE

Disclaimer- I am not EL James and therefore do not own anything in the 50 Shades realm- the story is mine, the characters belong to EL James.

Warning: Have the tissues ready !

" **He knew that he was home when her lips touched his.** **"**

 **CPOV**

It had been two long agonizing years since he had really kissed his beloved wife, Anastasia Rose Grey.

Seven hundred and eighty two days and fifteen hours since he had slept all night holding onto the love of his life. His Ana. She was just as beautiful at age 63 as she was at twenty-one. Her smile, though rare now, could still light up a room. And her giggle, I would give away my entire fortune to hear that sound one more time.

It started just after her 60th birthday, little things at first...like she could never remember where she left her keys or the occasional manuscript that she still liked to read for Grey Publishing, even though she had retired the year before. She blamed it on retirement, not having enough to occupy her brain was making her forgetful, she said. I offered to retire as well and take her on a trip around the world but she didn't want to leave our children and the grandkids for that long. My mother, Grace, was in her 80s and had decided to step down from her position on the Coping Together board so she asked Ana to take her place. Ana gladly took her up on the offer as she had been a big supporter of the charity since that first Coping Together Gala we had attended in our early courtship.

She lasted about six months before she gave me the excuse that she was too tired to continue helping out at charity events. I, being the overprotective control freak, was worried that she was ill and demanded she go see the doctor for a full physical. Our personal physican had also retired the year before so we had a new young MD who we had never met before. He did the usual routine tests for a woman Anastasia's age and declared her in tiptop physical shape. She looked a good ten years younger than her actual age and other than saying she was tired, she denied any other physical complaints. Had she seen old Dr. Baker, who might have noticed she wasn't quite herself, she may have been diagnosed sooner.

Instead Ana hid her symptoms as she didn't want to worry me or cause me any added stress. I had cut back my hours at GEH when Ana retired from GP but was still active in the day to day operation of the company. Our son, Teddy, had taken over as the CEO but I was still involved in some major deals. At that time we were expanding our overseas branches and I had been doing a lot of travelling for GEH as Teddy's wife was expecting their second child and he didn't want to be too far from home. I always asked Ana to accompany me on my trips but she always complained that she was bored sitting in a hotel room all day while I was in meetings. It was after one of these business trips that I finally realized that my precious Anastasia was no longer the woman I had fallen in love with after she fell at my feet on that fateful day we met.

I arrived home late from the airport, Ryan dropping me off at the front door before heading to the staff cottage. Taylor and Gail had retired and moved to Utah last year to be closer to Sophie and their grandchildren. We still had a full security contingent but no longer had a live-in housekeeper since Ana wasn't working, she said there was no need for one as she was able to cook and clean up after the two of us. We still had a woman, Margery, who came during the day and did most of the cleaning, laundry and organized the weekly grocery delivery and household supplies. Otherwise, Ana had the house to herself while security monitored the grounds from the staff cottage. It was quiet when I entered the front foyer and the house was in darkness. I left my suitcase by the door and made my way upstairs, just wanting to climb in bed and fall asleep next to my gorgeous Angel.

I entered the master bedroom and went straight into the bathroom so I wouldn't disturb Ana while I got undressed and ready for bed. I walked back out in only my boxers and pulled back the covers on my side of the bed. I slide over, reaching for my wife only to find her side cold and empty. I sat up and turned on the bedside lamp. The bed was a rumpled mess but otherwise empty.

"ANA !" I yelled, jumping out of bed and running out of the room. I opened all the doors as I ran along the hall, looking inside for a sign that she was there. Not finding anything, I ran down the stairs to the first floor, thinking maybe she got up to make a cup of tea while waiting for my return. I hit the light switch as I entered the kitchen and stopped short as I tried to process what I was seeing. The gourmet kitchen that was my wife's pride and joy looked like a war zone. There was flour everywhere, cracked open eggs were all over the counter top and the smell of burnt plastic was in the air.

" ANA ! Baby where are you ?" I scream as I run through the mess littering the kitchen floor, almost wiping out in a puddle of what looks like milk. I dashed across the empty livingroom toward the hall leading to my office and Anastasia's office/library. I bypass my office, remembering the numerous times Ana has fallen asleep reading on the cosy chaise in the library. I threw open the door and hit the lights only to find books flung all over the room but no Ana.

" ANA !" I tug on my hair as I try to think where my wife could be. I headed back down the hall and opened my office door. This room appears to be just how I left it, nothing out of place and again, no Ana. I see the phone on the desk and pick up the receiver to call for help.

" Mr. Grey ?" I heard Reynolds answer from the security office. "Is everything alright ?" he asks.

" When was the last time you saw Mrs. Grey ?" I growled into the phone.

" Umm, it was around 9 pm , I did a perimeter check and saw her in the kitchen through the window before returned to the office...is Mrs. Grey okay sir ?"

" I can't find her !" I scream at him.

" Shit ! I'll be right there sir," I heard before he hung up. I realized I am standing there in only my boxers so I ran back upstairs to find some pants.

I entered our bedroom and head to my closet to grab some sweats. As I opened the door to the walk-in closet I heard a whimpering noise coming from the back of the closet. I groped for the light switch in the dark and finally hit it, illuminating the small space. I heard another whimper and see a pile of my suits on the floor along the back wall. " Ana ?" I whispered and I see the pile shift. I bent down and slowly pulled the Armani jacket off the top of the heap. I see a mass of chestnut hair then the tear-filled ocean blue eyes of my beautiful wife.

" Anastasia, baby, what's wrong ? Are you hurt ?" I reached down and pulled her into my arms.

" Chriisssstiaaaaaan ?" she moans as she grabs me round the waist and sobs into my chest.

" Shhhh...baby, it's okay, I'm here, I've got you," I said as I picked her up bridal style and carried her to our bed. I sat down and cradled her in my lap . I heard foot steps pounding up the stairs and look up as Reynolds enters the room. I shook my head and he nods and retreats back into the hall. I heard him say "he found her", most likely to Ryan back in the security suite.

I look back down at my crying wife and my heart breaks. " Anastasia, please tell me what's wrong, you are scaring me baby," I plead.

She raises her head and blinks a few times, clearing the tears from her eyes. " Christian ?" she asks like she just realized it was me holding her to my chest.

" Yes Ana, it's me, Christian...I'm home, I'm here. What happened ?" I smoothed the hair back from her face and cupped her cheek with my palm. She leans into my touch and takes a deep breath, and I see more tears spill down her cheeks.

" I wanted to...to make you a cake...a chocolate cake, to welcome you back home...and...and...I couldn't remember the recipe...or how to cook it...I tried to find a book in the library to tell me how...I couldn't find the right book...I couldn't remember...Christian...I can't remember..." she sobbed and buried her head in her hands.

I grabbed her head in both my hands forcing her to look at me.

" Anastasia, it's okay, we will figure this out, together...I promise I won't leave you, never again." I pulled her into my arms and kissed her soft lips, not knowing it would be the last time I kissed "my Ana".

Of course, I was on the phone the very next day, calling in favors, trying to find the leading experts in the field. Over the course of the next two years I had consulted every Neurologist, Neuro-psychologist and every other ologist that I could find that had researched Alzheimer's dementia. That was the diagnosis that the "experts" agreed upon, "early onset Alzheimer's" and it was already advanced when Ana finally admitted that her memory had been failing her for awhile. I blamed myself for not noticing because of the travelling I had been doing for GEH so I immediately retired from my company and officially handed it over to Theodore and Pheobe. I wanted to be here for my wife and try to make her life as stress free as possible as well as spend as much time with her while she still remembered me.

Tragically, that time was only a few short months before her disease had progressed so far that Anastasia no longer recognized not only me, her husband, but also our entire family. The morning I woke up next to my precious Ana screaming next to me and clutching the covers to her chest in abject terror is one I will never forget.

I am startled awake by a piercing scream and jump out of bed before I realize it is Ana's voice I heard.

"Ana, are you okay? Did you have a nightmare ?" I reached across the bed to grab her hand and she scoots away from me, falling off the other side of the bed.

" ANA !" I ran around the bed and bent over to pick her up.

" NO !" she yells. " Who are you ? Get away from me ! Daddddyyy !" she wails.

I took a step back, at a loss, not sure what to do. Ray Steele, her stepfather and the only man she ever called Daddy, passed away 5 years ago after a massive stroke. I wished I could just pick up the phone and bring her father back but even the great "Christian Grey" doesn't have that kind of pull.

" Ana," I said gently, "it's me, Christian...your husband, I love you baby, it's okay...I won't hurt you...I promise." I slowly reached out and grabbed her hand, hoping that the spark that is always created when we touch will jog her memory. She seems to have calmed down when I squeezed her hand so I sat beside her on the floor and pulled her into my arms.

" You aren't one of her's...Carla's...you're mine ?" She looked up at me with confusion in those gorgeous blue eyes.

" Yes Anastasia, I'm yours...now and forever, " I whispered as I placed a kiss on her forehead.

And now, it is two years later and I am living with a stranger. My Ana left the building a long time ago. Oh, every once and awhile she will have a brief period of lucidness where she asks for me and the nurses that care for her round the clock will come get me. I would spend a few moments holding my sweet Anastasia but have to leave the room before she reverts back to the scared little girl who thinks I am there to hurt her. I can't bear to see her like that and it breaks my heart every time I leave the room and she begs me to stay.

I'd then go back to my home office and try to concentrate on the charity work in Africa and the USA that occupies my time these days but usually I'd find myself staring out at the Sound remembering all the firsts that Ana and I shared before Alzheimer's took my wife away from me.

Tonight I sit, staring out the window into the darkness, sipping on a glass of Bourbon. I am tired, so tired and don't know how much longer I can do this. Fortunately or unfortunately, Ana's disease has only affected her mind, her body is healthy as a horse, thanks to the private nurses that I pay a fortune to care for her. She could live another 10 or more years in the hell that is now the prison of her addled brain but I don't think I have it in me to continue to suffer in my own personal hell without my Ana.

I hear a knock on my office door, knowing it must be the night nurse as security has set the house alarms for the night. " Come in." I say and empty my glass in one swallow.

" Mr. Grey," the nurse, Angie, pops her head around the doorframe. " Ms Ana is awake, sir, and she's asking for you...she seems quite with it and is upset that you weren't in bed with her. I think she needs you, Mr. Grey..." She seems a bit agitated, which is strange, the nurses are always so calm especially when Anastasia was having a bad day.

" I'll be right up." I tell her and she nods and retreats back upstairs.

I sigh and brace myself for what I will find when I enter what used to be our master bedroom. I haven't slept in that room in almost two years, haven't felt my wife snuggled in my arms, haven't kissed...let alone made love, to my angel, my Anastasia.

I take a deep breath and enter the room and immediately see Ana sitting up in bed staring at me, blue eyes to my gray.

" Christian, where were you ? Why is this nurse in our bedroom ? Am I sick ? Why weren't you here when I woke up ?" She rattles off these questions while reaching out for me. She looks more alert than she has in so long, like the old Ana is back. I wonder how long it will last before she breaks my heart once again when she retreats back into her head.

" I'm sorry baby, I was downstairs finishing up some work, I'm here now," I say as I sit on the bed and take her in my arms.

" Angie, go take a break, I will call you when I need you." I motion with my head for the nurse to leave us alone. She hesitates for just a second, then says, " I'm going to go get a cup of coffee, just yell if you need me," and she walks out of the bedroom, leaving the door ajar.

" Christian, who is that woman ? What is wrong with me ? I don''t remember being sick..." she looks at me with confusion but otherwise her eyes are the clear ocean blue that I fell in love with 42 years ago. Today, in fact, was the anniversary of that fateful interview where she filled in for her best friend, Kate, and my life, as I knew it, changed forever.

" Shhh, baby, you're okay, nothing to worry about, trust me, okay ?" I kissed her forehead and brushed her now silver hair off her face. She wraps her arms around my waist and pulls me closer. I inhale her unique Ana scent and will myself not to cry as I don't want to upset her when she is finally in my arms after so long. I never want this moment to end and wish I could freeze time in this instant and spend forever in Anastasia's arms. I nuzzle her neck and think...if I died now, I would die a happy man.

A thought then pops into my brain and I raise my head and gaze into Ana's eyes. I see my love reflected back in her eyes and not the fear that these days is the only thing I see in those gorgeous blue eyes.

" Ana, I love you, baby...do you trust me ? Will you go somewhere with me ?" I beg, hoping I have enough time before she regresses again.

" I love you too Christian, of course I will go with you...where are we going ?" she asks.

I pick her up bridal style and say, " It's a surprise baby...just wait, you'll see."

I carry her out into the hall and turn toward the back stairs that lead to the garage and the security entrance.

" Christian, wait ! I'm not dressed." Ana says as I carry her down the stairs.

" Don't worry, you don't need clothes where we are going." I kiss her forehead to reassure her as I open the door to the garage. I grab the keys to the Audi SUV, the old R8 hasn't been driven in so long, I don't know if it will even start so I leave those keys on the hook.

I open the car door and gently put her down in the rear passenger seat. I close the door and go around to the driver's side. I get in the driver's seat and start the car. I then get out and climb in the rear, sitting bedside Ana and closing the door behind me. I slide over and pull her into my arms.

" Christian, what are we doing ?" she giggles as I pull her onto my lap.

" Remember all the times we have made out in the back of this SUV while Taylor drove us around ? I just want to make out in the car with my wife..." I give her my sweet smile and my heart almost stops when I see the sparkle return to her eyes, my Ana's eyes.

" Well Mr. Grey...we aim to please !" she says and giggles again as she leans towards me.

I don't know how long our moment of bliss lasted, it was if time had stood still.

" I'm tired Christian." I hear Ana whisper as she lays on my chest in the backseat, the windows of the Audi opaque with smoke.

" I know baby, just go to sleep...I will never leave you, Anastasia...we will be together forever...I promise. I love you , my Ana..."

Christian lifts her head to look into Anastasia's eyes...and he knew that he was home when her lips touched his...one last time...

The End


End file.
